I actually have those perfect pushup doo-hickys, they're damn good for chest/core workout. I did 100 of them yesterday to get the blood pumping a bit. I can't do pullups until my tennis elbow heals, though I'm trying this cessis quadrangularis that supposedly works well on the joints, but I'm only on my second day of it, so I can't give you much feedback.

I was just noting the volume of work you do on your squat! Your last squat day you did over 100 reps of squats, and then did leg machines! Do you have any trouble recovering from that?

Also, why do you do both Smith and free-weight squats? It seems that most people that do one don't do the other.

And (well, make that 3 questions), about your HIIT. You say 60-second bouts, so you must be doing 60 sec all out, and 60 sec slow--right? I don't think that I could stand to stay on the elliptical for 22 minutes. There's something about the motion that really annoys me. I guess it's something that would give me a cardio workout without banging up my knees, and I should like that, but I just don't like it. I'd rather cycle if I do a machine.

My legs don't seem to get worked without a few variables of squats. And if you notice, its on my third day, so I wont hit them again squatting on wednesday, so it gives them quite a bit of rest. I'm still trying to find a happy ground on what I like to do squat wise, and I don't like the feeling of leg extensions/single leg group exercises for the most part. Calves I do separate because they need tons of work to grow.

As for the smith and free weight squats, I'm transitioning from one to the other, and eventually I would like to be all on barbell/freeweight squatting.

As for the HIIT, yes the machines actually have a program that goes _n_n_n_ "you get the idea", and will automatically go up to maximum resistance. My heart rates generally at 175-182bpm and I'm 26 years old, so thats pretty close to redline I think. And this cardio machine actually needs the force of your arms pushing and pulling as well, so its not just a pedaling of the bike. Come to think of it, I don't think I could make a bike very intense for my body, because even going to the gym today, I biked 6 miles back and forth. It's my main source of transportation over the summer.

Another note about the legs, I used to be a really really big guy -- almost 300lbs, and dropped to the current weigh in this morning of 203 -- my legs can really take a beating, and have always had alot of power because of that. My legs will be sore, but usually only for two days, which is just in time for the minor work involved for them in deadlifting on my back day.

Does it really matter if your legs get tired during the workout? Do you find you make more progress if you push until you are tired (more reps or more weight next time)?

I'm curious, because I often do the same thing - I want to do just a little more, a little more, because I'm not feeling the workout. I try to ignore the "do a set more" in my head and pay attention to my actual progress indicators, but it can be hard to go home if you're not tired, it can feel like you missed a chance to put in some real work.

I'm a workout to failure kind of person. I can't just leave it unfinished. I'm sure I'm risking more for the smaller rewards I get past a certain point, but really, it's part of the satisfaction of going to the gym for me. I go to be exhausted when I leave. Might not always be the best mindset, but I try my best to pay attention to my body and listen to anything it tells me when I lift.

I feel a lot the same way. I have to take certain cues seriously (at my age, I suppose) so I am learning when to cut things off, but I do like the feeling of leaving tired. If I started emotionally depleted, I find that if I leave physically tired, I'm usually feeling better emotionally. I can't really tell you why. Endorphins? I suppose there is something in that. And if I've seen some evidence of progress in my training, it really helps as well.

Ryan, what lead to you make the changes needed to lose 1/3 of your body weight? That is such a huge accomplishment, I can hardly believe it. In a past incarnation, I worked with weight-loss, and I can only think of one person that I worked with that made that kind of a change.

Grew up never really thinking about nutrition at all. I honestly never put any thought into what I put in me. Used to play video games and drink 2 liters of pepsi or whatever. There was a realization when I went on to college that I wasn't eating properly. My knees were killing me at 22 years old "didn't start college till 22". It wasn't something that happened immediately honestly. I had the help of ephedra early on. I say that helped me alot because my stomach was physically hungry eating what I was supposed to eat per day, so I had to kill my appetite. I eventually started implementing cardio, but honestly early on, the diet had to be adjusted. When I gave up soda, I think I lost 15lbs on that alone. That was a hard break going from soda to diet soda, and now rarely even diet soda.

Starting cardio, I did it by walking first. Eventually as the weight came off, my knees didn't hurt as much and I could start running. I would usually run for specific amounts of time, say 30 seconds, and work my way up to where I could run distances. When I lived on campus at school, probably one of the best things for me was the gym they had there. I was almost instantly addicted to it, hell I was overtraining at one point 5-6 days a week, separate isolated training every day. Bench got up to 255 at one point too.

I will say I haven't had my pitfalls, though I've never gone back near what I used to weigh, worst I've weighed was maybe 230. Thing is, I don't eat fast food anymore, so its hard for me to even eat it without feeling physically sick. Cooking when I grew up helps me now. I honestly blame the 300lbs on general miseducation, I really didn't know how unhealthy things were for me,and when I educated myself on food and nutrition, I learned how to control it and get it to work for me.

I'm still fairly annoyed with my scar on the stomach holding onto the fat, but I did a comparison between the old picture and the new one and my upper body looks like it ballooned. It's really frustrating that I have definition now on my upper shoulders "cant really see it on the picture, i used my cellphone" and on my chest "you can see the muscle move fairly well now under the skin plus some smaller cuts/ripples" but that stomach sits as it is. Maybe you guys have some suggestions?

I know its genetic on how I lose fat, and my diets been spot on. Hell I had salmon and asparagus stirfry in olive oil with a side of spinach last nite if that gives you an idea of what i eat.

I think it's more diet than anything else. You are seeing the results of the exercises but the stomach is one of the last places to lose the fat. Maybe you need to adjust your calorie intake, reduce your carb intake, or something else. I'm not a diet expert, but it seems like the best place to attack the problem. You already work out hard enough, I think.

I don't know, I think its because im trying to cut and build muscle at the same time. My calories don't sustain me at 2200, I have to take around 2800 usually. Alot of good fats and protein, carbs are usually a bun on a sandwich or whatever.

I could try to cut carbs completely, but I still enjoy things like cereal in the morning and sandwiches, which to me when made properly, is one of the most balanced fat/protein/carb food you can get. I don't know, I"ve been watching the scale for the last month and it hasn't dipped below 205, usually hovering between 205 and 207.5 or so. And I doubt it to be my diet as the reason, its not perfect, but it sure as hell should be making a difference. Suppose I can just keep giving it more time, 6 weeks isnt very long.

The routine looks pretty interesting. I've never done any bodypart splits like that, and I've never lifted with set tempos, either, something most of CT's routines have. I'm looking forward to following your log and see how it all comes together.

It's interesting that it's all 5x5, but supersets with one primary and one secondary exercise.

Yeah, my first day into it was awesome. I eventually got into this focused driven mode, really felt great! My new years resolution was to stick to one of his workouts for the length given. There was some ackwardness at times and I was running back and forth in the gym from the cage to the cable machines, but it was good overall.

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